Darkness' Remnants
by BlackArticFox
Summary: There's something threatening their lives in Covenant castle and letting their guards down might mean doing something they'll regret; Yuuri and the others must end this before darkness can get its revenge through the keys.
1. Prologue

**Fanfiction title:**Darkness' Remnants

**Fanfiction summary:**There's something threatening their lives in Covenant castle and letting their guards down might mean doing something they'll regret; Yuuri and the others must end this before darkness can get its revenge through the keys.

**Chapter title:**Prologue

**Chapter number:**1/21

**A/N: **OK guys, here's a new story from me. This will be my "serious story", the one that will have more of a plot than any of the others I'm working on. I hope to write a few chapters before uploading any more of them but at least I have the summary for each planned; 21 chapters including Prologue and Epilogue.

I'm really sorry for the confusing summary but I had no idea what to write, hope it doesn't affect your opinion on this ^.^''

I still have a thing for the three not-look-alike brothers and their dynamics so this will focus on it somewhat… You'll see what I mean once you're done reading the Prologue. I won't get too serious with this, not much angst or anything, no character death or major stuff so this will stay T, but I want to give a try to a true plot that doesn't rely on humor or romance, since all my other stories will be around those genres so… yay for something different?

… Anyway, if you do give this a try hope you enjoy it. This one will be the one that takes longest to update from my stories however, I hope the chapters will be of good length without forcing it and I do want the development to flow the right way so I hope you're patient with me. Also remember English isn't my first language and I don't have a beta reader so, please, forgive me for my grammatical and spelling mistakes.

Without further ado, let's get this started!

* * *

**Prologue**

Blood Pledge Castle was under attack, there were people in long black robes fighting with swords, their fencing level as good as that of the soldiers in the castle. Torches were lit all over the place in order to make it easier for the soldiers to locate their attackers who would, otherwise, get lost in the darkness. The number of intruders was unknown but they were enough to face one on one the building's inhabitants.

Wolfram cursed under his breath as he saw more intruders appear from seemingly no-where: He had to pick this precise night to catch up with some work that had piled up after their last mission and had decided to sleep in his own room in hopes of not waking his fiancé if he joined him in bed so late; he now wished he had gone to the royal bedchambers anyway, that way, he would have been right next to Yuuri when the attack started and made sure he was kept safe. Now, he had to find his King before anything happened to him, he just hoped the double-black was with either Conrart or Gwendal –or Günter at least-; it didn't matter who it was as long as someone was protecting him. He was just glad he shouldn't worry about Greta since she was still studying abroad with Hristo Cruyff.

A sudden movement out of the corner of his eye made Wolfram react immediately to defend himself against the sword aimed for his neck, he was quick in leaving the cloaked figure unconscious. He wasn't sure if the attackers were human or not but Yuuri had never wanted to kill anyone so he did nothing more before continuing his way, hoping to find the Maou soon.

* * *

Body after body fell unconscious to the floor as Conrart made himself way through the attackers, calling out for Yuuri in case he was near. He was hoping the King was at Wolfram's side, he knew the blond had been up late due to paperwork but it was likely he had still gone back to the royal bedchambers once he was done, or at least that's what the brunet hoped for, if not, it would mean his godson was alone when this whole thing started and if the Maou hadn't done anything against these people yet then Yuuri could be in trouble.

Trying to think as positively as he could, he kept on going: Wolfram _had_ to be with Yuuri and they were _fine_, but, still, the number of intruders was so big, he feared Wolfram might need help eventually. The half-breed hadn't seen Gwendal or Günter so far either but he was sure they were okay, same with his mother who was probably with Gisela and Anissina by now defending themselves somewhere. Never-the-less, he had to find his family soon and make sure they were all fine with his own eyes.

Three more rivals made his way to him and he got rid of all three with barely any effort. He had no idea how these figures entered the castle: Guards had been doing rounds as usual, he himself had been walking through the castle mere minutes ago so he didn't know where they had failed. Even now he couldn't tell where they kept coming from but he had the impression the number of intruders wasn't getting any smaller no matter how many of them Conrart knocked out. He just had to keep moving, hoping to get reunited with the current Maou soon; he had the feeling this attack was against the double-black and wouldn't stop until they got what they wanted, whatever that might be, but if anyone dared hurt him then he didn't know what he would be capable of doing.

* * *

Gwendal was getting tired of these intruders: They were troublesome and seemed to be endless, he just hoped those he had knocked out wouldn't stand back up. The Mazoku commander grunted as he turned a corner and fought two more… were they even warriors? He had no idea what kind of enemy he was facing, he knew they were good fencers to some extent but he seemed to deal with them rather easily whereas the soldiers he saw fighting around him seemed to have a little more problem handling them but he knew they could manage without his help. It would have been much easier for him to know whether these intruders were actually recovering or not if he could, at least, wound them –any wound would be proof of a previous combat- but the 27th Maou wouldn't allow that and he couldn't go against the king.

He kept on moving, he had to meet up with his family, hoping that at least one of them was with the black-eyed teen… Speaking of which, he was surprised the water dragons belonging to said male had yet to make an appearance considering the whole castle was battling against some unknown enemy and there were a lot of people living in there that the monarch cared about; Gwendal could have sworn Yuuri would have put an end to this by now, should he be worried then? Or is it that, somehow, the youth didn't think it was necessary to attack just yet? Was he just too shaken up to do anything or was he out of combat already? Was everything actually okay after all? What did these intruders want of them?

Another attack came from his right, he quickly deflected the attack and took down yet another cloaked figure, if the situation didn't get better soon he would start losing his temper and he didn't know what he was capable of it that happened. The best he could do for now was focus on finding someone, preferably the king and, at least, one of his brothers, and figure out what to do to get rid of all these people.

* * *

Wolfram was getting desperate, it was during times like this that he wished the place wasn't so big; he was feeling completely lost in his own home and he was all alone. He hadn't seen anyone but soldiers in the hallways and he was having trouble remembering the faces of all those men, he couldn't recall a single name from the Mazoku he had seen defending the castle and none of them had said a single word to him or asked to come with or if there were any orders they should follow, it was as if no-one but the intruders had noticed his presence… It was starting to scare him.

He had even used his Maryoku a few times already but no-one else had, not even the intruders but they didn't have Houseki either so it was unlikely they came from human lands. After walking and fighting for Shinou-knows-how-long and never getting anywhere near Yuuri's bedroom as far as he could tell, Wolfram was wondering if his mind was playing tricks on him since he could not pinpoint where exactly in the castle he currently was and he had seen no-one around use their element even though he could feel some Maryoku left-overs when he walked down a few hallways. What was going on exactly?

"Yuuri!" The blond called for what seemed the thousandth time, still hoping to hear his fiancé calling back to him so he could have one less person to worry about "Yuuri!"

The more he advanced the worse the feeling of loss got, at this point, he would take anyone he knew to appear before him; he just wanted something to tell him he was on the right path and that there were more people around him he could recognize and who actually acknowledged him, something that could make him feel like he wasn't alone in this mess.

"Wolfram!" The fire-wielder turned around trying to find the source of the voice and attempting to match the voice to a face but came up with nothing, he had no idea who that voice belonged to but whoever that was they were calling out to him and he had to help them so he broke into a sprint with sword in hand, ready to attack if it were necessary, this time, he would use the sharp edge; he was tired of fooling around with the enemy already and he could only handle so much.

He stopped suddenly at an intersection, hearing hurrying footsteps in front of him and to his left; they were trying to play smart attacking him where four hallways met but he was ready for them. The cloaked figures became visible and Wolfram jumped aiming for the spot where the neck met the shoulder of the attacker that came from the front to finish him off first knowing he might get a wound from the other enemy but trusting he'd be fast enough to avoid anything fatal, his arms raised to gain impulse and he brought the sword down-

"_STOP!"_

* * *

Wolfram's eyes opened, his body halting to a stop. His mind was blank and he could not figure out where he was or what was happening around him, his head was spinning, he was panting and the only thing he was aware of was his hands holding tightly onto the handle of his sword, his whole body was tensed up.

The blond took one deep breath, trying to calm his heartbeat and get his breathing back to normal, and felt his senses returning slowly. He felt silk against his skin and cold air brushing his calves while his bare feet rested against a solid surface, then, he noticed his surroundings were kind of dark but shadows danced on the walls cast by flickering lights, there was also people looking at him as if startled by his presence… He recognized those people: There were guards he greeted every morning and could name them all, Günter was standing by them wearing his light blue nightgown with the matching nightcap, there was also his mother in her very-revealing negligee holding a hand to her chest, Anissina stood behind her with Gisela next to her and, then, there was Yuuri in his usual blue pajamas but no usual smile on his face; just wide, scared black eyes.

The fire-wielder grew more aware of his surroundings and felt something right above his collarbone, turning his head slightly, he saw a blade shining under the lit torches –the flickering lights he had seen earlier-, his eyes followed the blade up to the cross and then the handle to a pair of lightly tanned hands, up yellow-clad arms and to a familiar face wearing a foreign expression. He looked at the brunet, eyes full of shock staring back at him, although, he was sure they were but a mirror of his own.

A flash caught his attention, something was hovering next to Conrart's neck; it was another blade. Following the same path with his eyes as he had beforehand, he recognized the big hands and wine sleeves before he saw his oldest brother's face, Gwendal's eyes glued to their half-breed sibling as if not believing what he was seeing. A moment later, those cobalt orbs turned to lock with Wolfram's emerald ones, the young Bielefeld felt the movement of the other male's neck through his arms and that's when he realized Gwendal also had a sword pressed to his neck and it took him just a second to gather that he was the one holding that third sword.

"What's going on here?!" Yuuri asked the former Maou's three sons who, all at once, dropped their swords as if the handles burned them. The three males looked around them, waking from the trance they had been in a minute ago, registering everything that was there. Finally, turning to their monarch, the three of them spoke in unison:

"I don't now…"

* * *

**TBC~**


	2. The Interrogatory

**Fanfiction title:**Darkness' Remnants

**Fanfiction summary:**There's something threatening their lives in Covenant castle and letting their guards down might mean doing something they'll regret; Yuuri and the others must end this before darkness can get its revenge through the keys.

**Chapter title: **The Interrogatory

**Chapter number:**2/21

**A/N: **Hey guys, I have good news and bad news. Good news is I have drafts for most chapters! Bad news is they ARE drafts so they need a lot of editing to do but I wanted to show I was still planning on finishing this but it's taken me too long to fix some issues I had with a few chapters and stuff. This almost has a feeling of "filler chapter" but setting the characters' emotions is important and it will show later on, this is also when the story officially starts. Sorry for the two-year delay, I really do want to finish this and I'll try to edit the next chapter soon.

I really can't do much more than apologize for the wait but know this story will continue, I _do_ want to see it through so please be patient with me. Also remember English isn't my first language and I don't have a beta reader so, please, forgive me for my grammatical and spelling mistakes.

Without further ado, let's get this started!

* * *

**Chapter 2: The Interrogatory**

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"Can someone explain what the hell happened out there?" The 27th Maou asked the three not-look-alike brothers who did their hardest to keep their eyes glued to the table they were seated at. After the brothers had woken up from their trance the King had ordered for them to get into his office, Anissina, Günter, Lady Cheri and Gisela joining them right away; the healer was doing a check-up on the former princes to make sure they hadn't gained any wound and look for anything foreign affecting them, so far she hadn't found anything.

"What were you thinking?" This time it was Günter who asked seeing as how none of the questioned males made an effort to give a response to their ruler, the royal counselor had his hands clasped in front of chest and a stern expression on his face but his eyes betrayed any worry he was feeling over his close friends "How did you get to that?"

"I don't know, Günter!" Finally Wolfram snapped, startling Gisela who had been checking him over. He looked at the Von Christ lord with desperation in his eyes and his hands fisted on the table, his green orbs met with his fellow noble's violet pools as if looking for something to give him reassurance and help his fidgeting, continuing in a considerably softer tone "I… don't know. I- I can't even remember how I got there to begin with."

"You were holding your sword Wolfram, you all were!" Yuuri said with a frown, he rarely used his 'order power' and he hated to yell to these people who were precious to him but he was honestly unsettled by what he had witnessed and couldn't imagine what would have happened had they not woken up the moment he yelled for them to stop. The king focused on the blond demon who still didn't dare to look back at him "I called your name a few times when I saw you walking with it but you only kept walking, I somehow managed to get to the second floor in time to stop you."

"I think I do remember hearing my name before I woke up." Wolfram confessed, trying to look into his memory for anything else but he only managed to give himself a headache "But, I don't know, the last thing I remember was getting into bed and then… I think I was looking for someone and I heard my name just before…"

Wolfram trailed off, not wanting to even mention that moment again; he had almost slayed his brother _and_ he had almost been slayed by his other brother, how was that even possible? What were they thinking? He couldn't even remember when he left his bedroom in his nightgown with sword in hand, was he sleepwalking then? Was he having a bad dream?

"A dream." Wolfram said aloud, everyone's eyes still trained on him "Was I dreaming?"

"Were you having a nightmare, Wolfram?" Lady Cheri asked her youngest son as Gisela bowed and moved onto the brown-eyed half-breed to check on him next, she hadn't found anything out of the ordinary on the Bielefeld youth other than a great deal of stress which was understandable so she hoped to have more luck with the two older brothers. The former Queen touched her youngest son's arm in a reassuring gesture but he either didn't notice or didn't care and kept looking down instead trying to find answers in his memories "What were you dreaming about?"

"I… can't remember." The fire-wielder confessed, his brow furrowing more and more with each passing second "I cannot recall anything that happened before I woke up, it's just darkness."

"What about you two?" Anissina decided to interrupt the youngest member of the former royal family in favor of letting him rest, he seemed troubled enough as it was but the inventor was surprised when she saw that same worried expression on Conrart's and Gwendal's face as if they, too, had been trying to remember whatever they had been doing before almost decapitating each other in the middle of the hallway "Really? Nothing from you either?"

"It's not as if we are not trying!" Gwendal snapped, he was getting the worst migraine he'd ever remember feeling since his eye had been hurting him a couple of years ago and it was merely from trying to form a memory but it was an important memory: Anything that could explain what in Shinou's name had made him get out of bed, grab his sword and attempt to murder his younger brother "I cannot remember hearing any voices but I felt… Exhausted when I woke up, it was almost as if I had been in a training session; I was even sweating but how? If I had been just walking around the castle then why am I so tired?"

"How did we even manage to get so far away from our bedrooms without anyone stopping us?" Conrart spoke up this time, his hands folded in front of him on the desk holding tightly onto one another in a sign of stress which Gisela was hoping she could treat after the meeting, there was no way her magic could help them out much right now. The healer then moved onto the oldest brother hoping he wouldn't snap again because it kind of scared her, even more so after what she had witnessed moments ago "We were all the way on the South wing, many guards _should_ have seen us passing by, why did no one stop us?"

"They said they couldn't." Yuuri answered, having questioned the soldiers that managed to catch up with him when he was running after Wolfram while on his pursue "The guards you saw with us when you woke up claimed they tried to talk to you and you would just use your sword to get them out of your way and those who tried to follow you lost sight of you when they turned a corner, as if you had vanished into thin air and when they finally saw you again you were on an entirely different hallway."

"Did we hurt any of the guards?" Gwendal asked, knowing his brothers were wondering the same thing; he couldn't remember ever raising his sword but it seemed their little hike had been more violent than they expected and it was doing nothing to help him calm down.

"Some bumps from where you hit them but nothing serious." The young ruler answered hoping to be calming enough for his commander and his other friends, they did seem to let out a small sigh of relief at least so it was better than nothing "Whatever it is that got into you tonight made you do far more than any sleep-walker I've seen and it was dangerous."

All three brothers wanted to give some kind of acknowledgement to their king but they couldn't come up with anything to tell him that would be satisfying enough for the situation they were in. They kept trying to think back on what had made them move, what had they been seeing under their closed eyelids? But it was all blacked out, nothing gave them a hint of the dream or vision or nightmare they had been having or whether they had felt anything out of the ordinary but, right now, all they had was a big feeling of dread and fear; they felt slightly betrayed but they also felt like the entire thing was their fault, they felt as if they had failed in so many levels that night and they felt helpless without knowing how to fix it. The three former princes felt heavy, they felt tired and they were frustrated more with themselves than with each other.

"Did you find anything out of the ordinary, Gisela?" Günter asked his daughter once she rose from her kneeling position next to the Earth Wielder, breaking the sudden silence in the room.

"I could not find anything out of the ordinary." Gisela said with a shake of her head "I made sure to look for physical wounds and Maryoku irregularities but I found nothing, Wolfram-Kakka's and Gwendal-Kakka's power _is_ a little unstable but I am willing to bet it is because of the stress they are currently feeling; I would suggest some calming magic and try to get them to rest."

"It is almost dawn, I have to start with my duties soon." Gwendal said without a second thought.

"It is my turn to make the morning rounds around the castle, it would be better if I stayed awake." Conrart spoke up from the spot next to his older brother, right across from his baby brother who also had something to say.

"I have been awake for far too long, I will not be able to fall asleep again right now."

"But you all look exhausted." Lady Celli tried to reason with them, it hurt her deeply to see her children in such a state and she felt awful for not knowing how to help them "Listen to Gisela, you have to get some more sleep so you can relax, maybe you will feel better afterwards."

"No, mother." Gwendal retorted sternly, too into his own dark feelings to consider his mother's concern for their well-being, even though he still tried his best to sound respectful "I will gladly accept the relaxing Majutsu but I refuse to get started on my work later just to nap; we are trying to run a Kingdom and there's still too much to be done."

"I agree." Conrart did his best to relax his expression into his ever-present smile but it came out as a grimace that only made everyone in the room worry all the more so he gave up his effort and sighed "Please, Gisela."

"But-"

"Very well." Before Gisela could reprimand them for their decision her father interrupted her, she turned her gaze to him wanting to ask him to let her handle the situation but a single glance the man sent her way made her realize this was not an argument she would win, not even going into sergeant mode so she kept quiet and allowed the von Christ lord to continue "If that is what you wish to do then we shall comply but you have to be careful for the rest of the day and come right to Gisela if you feel unwell, should we find out you are not taking proper care of yourselves I will make sure you are appropriately reprimanded and punished, do I make myself clear?"

Wolfram, Conrart and Gwendal looked at the eldest male in the room; the expression he was wearing reminded each of them of a time when he was their instructor in some way or another and also brought back memories of how fearsome and powerful this demon could be when he was pushed to his limits; they could do nothing but lower their eyes in a sign of respect and nod once, the action seemed to please the violet-haired male.

"Go get changed if you wish to get started with your day, Gisela will be visiting you in your chambers shortly to use her Relaxing Majutsu, you cannot leave your room until she is finished." Günter instructed the younger males but Anissina spoke before any of them could make a move for the door.

"Wolfram, get changed in his Majesty's chamber, yours is too far away and it will make the job easier for Gisela." Usually, the blond noble would snap at the inventor for telling him to do something but, to everyone's concern, the only thing he did was nod silently before leaving his seat and walking to the door, his brothers following suit and a serious-looking healer right on their tail. Once the quartet was out of the room, the remaining people looked amongst themselves quietly, each trying to find answers they didn't get from the small interrogatory attempt.

"Does anyone understand what happened out there?" Yuuri asked after finding no response in his head.

"I am not sure." Anissina answered looking back at her King "They all said they cannot remember anything from before they woke up but they _must_ have gone through something important to attempt to kill each other in their sleep."

"We have to find out what happened, I am afraid of thinking it could happen again and there will be no one to stop them in time." Lady Celli said, hugging herself tightly and lowering her gaze to the floor showing the despair she was feeling at the mere thought of that happening, the Maou looked sadly at his predecessor and turned to his advisor, hoping he had anything of help to say.

"It is possible that, perhaps, they got so stressed subconsciously that they rose from their sleep with their soldier mindset active and it might have made them sleep-walk in such a way." The sentence sounded more like a question towards the end, Günter's explanation didn't seem to convince anyone, even less himself.

"But, what could have set off all three of them on the same night and make them attack each other specifically?" The double-black questioned to what the violet eyes staring back at him lit up with realization.

"The boxes." Those words gained everyone's attention at once "It happened exactly two years ago: Soushu took the keys from them and then had his Majesty captured. Maybe they remember the hopelessness they felt back then in the back of their minds and it made them want to fight and protect someone, like his Majesty."

"This did not happen last year though." The blonde noblewoman noted cocking her head slightly to the side, her arms loosened their grip but wouldn't let down the defensive stance just yet.

"We were dealing with King Ranjeel last year around this time, I want to believe they were too busy with the matter at hand to let anything from their subconscious come forward and affect them this way." Günter explained, his intertwined fingertips constantly moving over the back of his hands as if trying to soothe his nerves.

"So their anxiety is showing now because we are living in peaceful times?" Anissina guessed catching up with the older demon; the theory sounded farfetched but it was _something_ they could go off of to get some kind of explanation as to what was happening as opposed to staying blank.

"Ok then, how do we help them?" Yuuri also decided to go along with it: It seemed to be the easiest way to appease them and they definitely needed some kind of bone thrown at them after almost witnessing a three-way murder, however, if they were going to work with this theory they needed to focus on how to help the victims of the attack, if it could be called that.

"Gisela's magic should be of help but I suggest keeping a constant eye on them throughout the day." The beautiful man proposed, his fingers finally maintaining a steady position "They have set schedules for today, I think we can divide and make sure they are always in our sights."

"We have to let them know about our theory, it might give them some peace of mind." Anissina proposed "It did for us at least."

"Fine by me. Gwendal will likely be here with me doing paperwork the whole day so I can take care of him." The double-black said with confidence "Celli-sama, can you take care of Wolfram?"

"Of course, I will make sure to stay by his side at all times." The former queen assured with a nod, her previous fearful state now replaced by her rare serious attitude "Anissina, I would appreciate if you helped me with Conrart, Günter has a lot of responsibilities to take care of today and it would only add to their stress if more job piled up."

"Very well." Günter acceded with a nod "If we all have our duties we can get to work."

"OK but can I get changed first?" The young Monarch asked with a small smile motioning to his clothes "As comfortable as I am in this I think I need to get changed into my uniform."

"Oh, of course!" The violet-haired Mazoku exclaimed, realizing they were all still in their night clothes, he even was still wearing his long nightcap which fell all the way down to his waist and had most of Covenant Castle wondering every day how he could sleep without getting tangled in it "We shall get started on our plan afterwards."

* * *

The rest of the day went by painfully slowly for everyone; the rude awakening, the missing sleep and the constant tension on their shoulders tricked their minds with the illusion of longer hours and no accomplishment in their duties and the theory the Maou and the others had come up with did nothing to calm their nerves. The three not-look-alike brothers actively avoided each other to the point none of them ate breakfast or lunch at the dining table and asked for the meals to be taken to their bedrooms instead, during those meals Yuuri took charge of looking after Wolfram while Lady Celli ate with her middle son and Günter stayed with his best friend. Whether the former princes realized they were being monitored was uncertain but they didn't voice a complaint and focused on trying to act as normal as possible which didn't convince anyone even less with a castle full of concerned inhabitants.

When dinner came around Yuuri was decided to take Wolfram to the dining room, the blond had made sure to keep busy the whole day even with his Mother a few steps behind on every turn but the King was tired of his friends running away from each other. Of course he could understand the terror the brothers must have been feeling, saying it was shocking for onlookers would be an understatement so he could only imagine what it must have been like for those involved –having a brother himself- but they were never going to move past that if they didn't talk it out and the first step was to have all three males in the same room.

"Yuuri, let me go!" Although, getting the blond fireball to said room was proving to be as difficult as anything regarding the blond "I want to have dinner in our bedchamber!"

"I've been eating there the whole day, I want to sit at a real table this time." The double-black tightened his grip on the fire-wielder's wrist and kept walking forward without giving his companion a glance knowing he would falter if he looked into the annoyed green eyes boring a hole into the back of his head "It'd be easier if you stopped resisting!"

"It would be easier if you just let me go!" Wolfram tried once again to free his arm and dig his heels in the cracks of the stone ground failing as per expected, there was no way Yuuri was letting him get loose; he had a mission "Yuuri, I will burn you!"

"If you try I'm taking you there on a water dragon so I dare you!" They were just a few doors away from the dining room, he just had to haul Wolfram a few more steps and they'd be there "Can you just stop being so stubborn and go along with this?"

"Why is this so important?" The soldier sounded suspicious but the sudden curiosity was enough for Yuuri to pick up the pace for three seconds and make it to his goal, making sure to close the door right after they were both inside and pressing his back against it, gaining a raised blond eyebrow as reaction.

"Your Majesty?" And then there were two blond eyebrows raised as realization hit the young von Bielefeld like a bucket of cold water.

"It's 'Yuuri', Nazukeoya." The Maou retorted not moving a muscle in case anyone decided to make a run for the door while also keeping up a staring contest with the demon standing in front of him.

"Of course, Yuuri." Was the humorless reply he heard from the brunet half-breed.

The staring contest between the royal couple lasted for a few more seconds before Wolfram finally looked away and towards the table, had it been any other day the competition would have been much longer and, most likely, it would have ended with the blond coming out victorious but not today, not with the stress he was under and not with the resolution the King had. Yuuri also moved his eyes to the table, he was pleased to find Lady Celli, Anissina and Günter sitting at the table but he was relieved to see Gwendal and Conrad sitting along with them, even if they had a certain Royal Advisor in-between them; however he still didn't like the fact they had their gazes fixed on the tablecloth rather than each other. Deciding that no-one was considered a flight-risk anymore, the double-black stepped away from the door and took hold of Wolfram's thin wrist once again, guiding him to his seat without any kind of resistance this time, once they were both seated, Doria and Sangria hurried to bring all the plates to the table, Lasagna soon walked into the room with a pitcher of nectar and a bottle of wine on a tray, serving each person the beverage she knew they preferred. The whole ordeal was done without a word being spoken, obviously the maids had heard everything from the guards; it was unlikely there was a single person in Covenant Castle who hadn't heard of the incident by now so everyone was unsure as to how they should act around the former royal family. Finally, the maids left to join Effe in the kitchen and the place was left in awkward silence again.

"..What was the plan after we got them here?" Yuuri whispered to Anissina as the inventor started spooning her soup, no-one else had made a movement to touch the food so Yuuri assumed she had to be the one who knew the next step they had to take.

"Gwendal, how is the soup?" The redhead directed her words towards her childhood friend rather than answering the teenager, the commander jumped slightly as if startled by being addressed so suddenly. The Earth-wielder's blue eyes locked with the female's lighter ones across the table as if asking her if she was serious but when all he got in response was the purse of her lips his eyes and hands moved to his dish, taking a spoonful of soup to his mouth.

"Pretty good, as usual." Gwendal said after swallowing and proceeded to continue his meal in silence, it didn't do much to liven up the room but it did make everyone finally start eating so it was something. It wasn't until they were halfway through their main dish that someone finally spoke up.

"Are we overthinking this?" Everyone looked up at the brown-eyed half-breed who kept his eyes trained on the cooked fish on his plate "I have tried to come up with an explanation the whole day, a reason, but I can't come up with anything and I fear this will repeat if I can't understand what caused it in order to avoid it."

"If it had been just Wolfram and I an easy way to explain it would have been Majutsu but it would not explain why Conrart was affected as well." The Voltaire Lord provided his own train of thought, resting the back of his hand on the table and looking at his palm "So there is no way to attribute this to our powers."

"Can stress be to blame for this?" Wolfram's eyes showed his insecurity and Yuuri couldn't remember ever seeing the blond so vulnerable, having that image permanently in his mind wasn't something he needed "Last year we were fine, I thought we had grown past this but it seems we were just fooling ourselves."

"We won't know until tonight, right?" The King said quickly, his words making everyone raise their heads to look at him "Let's not make assumptions yet, we can see how tonight goes and if nothing happens then we shouldn't worry anymore, right?"

"We wanted to find a reason for everything but we might just be jumping to conclusions." Günter spoke, trying to sound reassuring "We were all understandably shocked and worried about what happened this morning but you were stopped before anything fatal happened and we have behaved wrongly the whole day; we should have tried to reassure you and plan ahead instead of just trying to reach answers right away."

"What if it happens again?" Wolfram asked, fear still shadowing his eyes.

"But what if it doesn't?" Yuuri reached for the blonde's hand in a rare gesture of public display of affection "We wanted to give you some kind of reason to help you out but we only made it worse so, how about we just do this together now?"

"You have been monitoring us all day, I believe some cooperation is in order after a day of silent treatment, particularly from us." Gwendal said from his place at the table, his eyes which had been downcast through most part of the day were finally looking to the front with a sliver of hope "We gain nothing from just trying to guess what happened last night and if none of us has answers _now_ there is no reason why we cannot find them later but we need help in order to accomplish anything."

"Do you have a plan, Gwen?" The 26th Maou asked and for the first time in the last twelve hours she actually sounded like the woman they all knew she really was and everyone was able to feel the mood slowly but surely switching from an atmosphere belonging to a tragedy into one fitting the preparation stage of a mission.

"We were awoken barely on time today and a lot of it had to do with the fact we were alone."

"It would be about keeping an eye on us, like you have been doing so far." The decided voice came from none other than the half-breed soldier himself who finally joined his brother in trying to work something out for their problem, his brown eyes met with his older brother's blue ones after a day of avoiding each other "If we can have people focusing on us for tonight, in case we do repeat what happened today, there is a better chance we will be awoken before we do anything dangerous."

"And if it is indeed stress, having people around and knowing we are not unstoppable should be enough to calm us down." Wolfram looked at his older brothers with the same determination they had, sounding more like the proud demon he was rather than a scared teen until a doubt made itself present "But, what if it's not?"

"If it's not then we'll try something else." Yuuri answered right away looking at Wolfram without hesitation in his expression, giving Wolfram's hand a squeeze before letting go and turning his attention to the rest of the people at the table "If it's still out of our control by tomorrow I'll ask Murata to come, maybe he'll have some theory about this but we have to be really careful tonight."

"We can have some soldiers from your divisions keeping guard outside your bedchambers tonight and I will make rounds to make sure everything stays in order." Günter said sounding almost animated, everyone seemed to be going back to their usual selves, even Lady Celli and Anissina were dropping their stern faces and letting a relaxed expression adorn their faces.

"Maybe Gisela could use some relaxing magic before you sleep." The blonde woman proposed with a clap of her hands "Oh! I also have some oils and soaps I use when I feel tense, you can use them to take a bath and just let us take care of you this night for a change."

"I have a new invention called 'I-will-melt-your-muscles-kun'." Anissina declared rising from her chair and moving her fists to her hips in a confident pose "I haven't had the chance to test it yet so I do believe this is the best opportunity to do it; if it works out then we all win!"

"No!" Everyone in the room yelled, raising their hands in a defensive stand, making the redhead look curiously at their suddenly whitened faces.

"I thought we were trying to help Gwendal, Conrart and Wolfram."

"We want to relax to ensure our safety not risk our wellbeing to see if we can accomplish anything!" Gwendal retorted also getting on his feet and glaring at his childhood friend and, despite the seriousness of the topic, the scene lifted everyone's spirits.

The 27th Maou looked at the people around him, despite the uncertainty still present and the now cold food on his plate, he finally felt like he was getting somewhere with their current predicament and like they had a chance to find out whatever was going on. Maybe there was nothing serious happening and, honestly, he really wished for it to be the case but, if there was something actually happening, he now felt like they had a plan and that there would be a way to solve everything. He couldn't jump to more conclusions for the moment; they had to focus on having everything ready for that night and he was going to make sure no-one would get hurt while he was in the castle.

**TBC~**


End file.
